A. Why do you think this is the most famous photograph
by Ansel Adams?What do you notice first? The white clouds? The moon in a black
sky? The white gravestones? The mountains? What feeling do you get from
all these elements put together?

Do you notice how the photograph is divided according to the "Rule
of Thirds?"
Many artists believe it is boring to look at images that are absolutely
symmetrical, with images divided exactly in half. In Moonrise,
Adams has stimulated our eye by offering three layers, each with a different
tone: the black sky, the white clouds, and the gray landscape. Adams
made an interesting composition, which became very popular.

Moonrise is "certainly my most popular single image",
said Adams. It "combined serendipity and immediate technical recall."
Serendipity means lucky chance. He "felt at the time it was an
exceptional image" and when he took it, he felt "an almost
prophetic sense of satisfaction."

Are photographs sold like paintings? What value do they have? There
are patrons and collectors of photographs as well as for other fine
arts. Ansel Adams was lucky to have attracted many influential and wealthy
people who financed the production of the portfolios of his work, who
arranged for exhibitions, and who purchased his work. When he was a
young creative photographer, his original prints sold for $10, and in
the 1960s for $50 - $100. The price for a print of Moonrise in
the early 1970s was $500. Then the value of the creative photographs
of Ansel Adams skyrocketed. At an auction in 1981, the sale of Moonrise
set a record price for a photograph - $71,500!...back to top

B. How did chance lead him to take this photograph?Ansel Adams was returning to Santa Fe, New Mexico after a discouraging
day of photography. From the highway he glanced left and "saw an
extraordinary situation - an inevitable photograph! I almost ditched
the car and rushed to set up my 8 X 10" camera. I was yelling to
my companions to bring me things from the car I had a clear visualization
of the image I wanted but I could not find my exposure meter! The
situation was desperate: the low sun was trailing the edge of clouds
in the west, and shadow would soon dim the white crosses." He felt
at a loss to guess the correct exposure, but suddenly realized he knew
the luminance of the moon and quickly took the shot....back to top

C. How did scientific analysis of the moon help Adams date this
photograph? Adams said he often disregarded the dates of his negatives, causing
dismay among historians. Moonrise was dated anywhere between
1940 and 1944. "Dr. Elmore of the High Altitude Observatory at
Boulder, Colorado, put a computer to work on the problem. Using data
from a visit to the site, analysis of the moon's position in the photograph,
and lunar azimuth tables, he determined that the exposure was made at
approximately 4:05 P.M. on October 31, 1941."...back to top

D. How important is "the moment" in photography?Adams and wanted to take a second shot because he realized he had
"an unusual photograph which deserved a duplicate negative."
But he was a few seconds too late! "The sunlight passed from the
white crosses." It can be very frustrating for a photographer to
miss an expression, a movement, or the right light. Luckily, conditions
were just right for the one precious shot and Moonrise is the fortunate
result. Adams said it "is a romantic/emotional moment in time."...back to top

E. Once the photograph is taken, is the development and printing
a mechanical process?No, it is not mechanical. Although there is a procedure, there is
much judgment involved on the part of the artist. Ansel said that the
negative for Moonrise was difficult to print. He tried many methods
using different chemicals and times and papers. With the negative in
the enlarger, he increased the light hitting certain areas (burning-in)
which made the sky blacker and the clouds less bright so the moon would
stand out more. With all these artistic adjustments, Adams said "it
is safe to say that no two prints are precisely the same."...back to top

F. Technical Aspects

Camera: 8 X 10 view camera

Lens: Cooke triple convertible lens.

Light meter: lost!

Film: Speed: ASA 64

Filter: Wratten No. 15 (G) filter

Exposure: 1 second at f/32.

Development: dilute D-23 and ten developer to water sequences.
Years later - refixed, washed the negative, and treated the lower
section with a dilute solution of Kodak IN-5 intensifier.

See Bibliography for more material
by and about Ansel Adams. For more information on the technical
aspects - cameras, films, lenses, filters, darkroom techniques,
printing, papers, etc. - please refer to Examples, The Making
of 40 Photographs by Ansel Adams (Boston, Toronto, London:
Little, Brown and Co, 1983).